World Cup arenas unsafe?

last updated 8 January 2015

Munich

All 12 German soccer stadiums slated to be used in this summer’s World Cup have safety problems, a consumer watchdog group said this week. The group, Stiftung Warentest, said that arenas in Berlin, Gelsenkirchen, Leipzig, and Kaiserslautern had the most serious problems with fire safety and crowd management. But all of the stadiums, the group said, are in need of safety improvements. Franz Beckenbauer, the former soccer player and coach who is overseeing the World Cup arrangements, shrugged off the report. “The Stiftung Warentest should stick to what it knows—face creams, olive oil, and vacuum cleaners,” he said.